JUST IN: Tiger Woods has revealed that he ghosted the star player following his $500 million LIV Golf move.
Jon Rahm has stated that Tiger Woods was less receptive of his $500 million switch to LIV Golf than his friend and business partner Rory McIlroy.
In December, the 29-year-old Spaniard shocked the golf world by signing a multimillion-dollar deal to leave the PGA Tour and join Greg Norman’s renegade circuit.
LIV’s capture of the reigning Masters champion was a significant coup for the breakaway, but McIlroy, one of the PGA Tour’s most vociferous defenders, unexpectedly changed his views both publicly and personally following his Ryder Cup teammate’s decision.
The Northern Irishman admits to being ‘very judgmental’ against individuals who defected.
However, the same cannot be true about Woods, as Rahm has spoken up on the two PGA Tour stars’ extremely different reactions.
‘Rory has been supportive of my decision both publicly and privately,’ Rahm told ESPN’s Marty Smith.
‘Tiger? When Smith asked if he had heard from McIlroy and Woods, Rahm responded, “No, not really.”
‘I mean, Tiger, I texted him and the others that tried to reach out about the process when I signed, and I just told him, ‘Hey, you know, this is a personal decision.”
The two-time major winner declined to comment on his attempted talk with the golf great.
Woods has been asked about Rahm’s exit during his limited appearances since the blockbuster move, but has been relatively quiet.
‘Well, there’s been a lot of chatter over the years about certain players leaving, and it was conjecture until it happened because there’s been stories of names going and not going, and whether they materialized or not,’ Woods said when questioned at the PNC Championship. ‘So we assumed it was all supposition until it happened.’
Woods became the PGA Tour’s sixth ‘player director’ after its stars were upset that commissioner Jay Monahan’s June 6 agreement with LIV’s financier, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, had been kept secret.